2011-2012 Southern Illinois University Application Thread

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Originally Posted by Superman DO

Hey all,

I'm actually an OMS II at ATSU-KCOM, and I will be heading to Carbondale next year for rotations at Memorial Hospital. I'm trying to get some ideas about places to live before I start drowning in board studying. Any current students have any wisdom about decent apartments or residencial areas for a married medical student and a dog?

By the way, good luck to everyone applying! =)

Thanks

Wedgewood Hills or Aspen Court are your best bets.

congrats to those with AWPAs today

Just got a thin envelope... AWPA! Actual acceptances are extended in batches in December, February, and March.

I received my AWPA letter today. Congratulations guys!!

I am an OOS applicant and got screened in for the secondary. However, looking at their matriculation rate and lack of OOS students Im concerned that submitting this secondary is an exercise in futility lol. I only saw one OOS accepted last year, which could very well be me this year, but Im applying to their MD/JD program. Is this treated as a different applicant pool?

Originally Posted by emcda001

I am an OOS applicant and got screened in for the secondary. However, looking at their matriculation rate and lack of OOS students Im concerned that submitting this secondary is an exercise in futility lol. I only saw one OOS accepted last year, which could very well be me this year, but Im applying to their MD/JD program. Is this treated as a different applicant pool?

While in the class of 2015 we don't have any MD/JD's it is my understanding that OOS isn't an issue because the first years are spent in the JD program and so you establish in state requirements by the time you enter the MD program. If your scores are good I wouldn't worry too much. Especially if you have any interest in staying in IL (except Chicago) after completing your training. You will have the same issues as those people applying from Chicago so you can look at the previous entries about their challenges.

Originally Posted by emcda001

I am an OOS applicant and got screened in for the secondary. However, looking at their matriculation rate and lack of OOS students Im concerned that submitting this secondary is an exercise in futility lol. I only saw one OOS accepted last year, which could very well be me this year, but Im applying to their MD/JD program. Is this treated as a different applicant pool?

yes. It is treated differently.

Let's get this thread going again! Any current students want to convince me to go to SIU MED? Top reasons? Pet peeves?

Has anyone that interviewed in mid-late October heard anything from SIU yet? I also second the previous poster's motion to hear more from current students about the school. I am very interested in SIU, but feel like I need to learn more about it to know if I really want to go there should I be accepted.

Originally Posted by MedTG

Has anyone that interviewed in mid-late October heard anything from SIU yet? I also second the previous poster's motion to hear more from current students about the school. I am very interested in SIU, but feel like I need to learn more about it to know if I really want to go there should I be accepted.

it's hard to just ramble about the school but if you have questions I know we'd be happy to answer.
Caesar and I are just a little bit busy with exams coming up so if we take a little while to respond that's why

I interviewed on Oct. 7th and still haven't heard anything

I'm an M1 at SIU SOM. If anyone has questions about the school feel free to shoot me a message. Best of luck to everyone.

Originally Posted by immunology89

Let's get this thread going again! Any current students want to convince me to go to SIU MED? Top reasons? Pet peeves?

I'm also an M1 if you have any questions, feel free to message me with them. Giving you a list of what I like and don't like about the curriculum/school may not be the best way to go, but if you are concerned about any specific parts of the curriculum I'm sure I could help. I think the biggest items to consider would be in knowing yourself and what type of learning style you enjoy or the skills you want to gain that will most benefit you as a physician.

I just got my AWPA today!!!

AWPA Today also!

Originally Posted by sareeb1

I'm an M1 at SIU SOM. If anyone has questions about the school feel free to shoot me a message. Best of luck to everyone.

your avatar has a heart block.

Did they send out AWPA letters yesterday?

Does anyone know what day siu's releasing their first batch of acceptances?
Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Originally Posted by Paiger1508

Does anyone know what day siu's releasing their first batch of acceptances?
Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Last year it was early Friday morning (before like 10:00 am)

Originally Posted by Donnie1310

Last year it was early Friday morning (before like 10:00 am)

Okay I suppose I can handle that. Ha.

AWPA's went out yesterday.

1st batch goes out Friday.

Best of luck, everyone. Be sure to post if you hear news or have questions.

By Friday, do you mean today? Or the 9th?

Originally Posted by rachy87

By Friday, do you mean today? Or the 9th?

Today.

The first batch of acceptances went out around 2 pm and I got one! Such a relief! Hang in there everybody!

Originally Posted by immunology89

The first batch of acceptances went out around 2 pm and I got one! Such a relief! Hang in there everybody!

+1! Unreal!

Boo, didn't make this round I guess. Congrats to you guys who did though!

congrats guys!

Accepted!

Way to go for those that got their acceptance today. For those that didn't just remember that there are plenty of spots still left to be filled so don't get down on yourself.

Congrats! I hope all of you accepted decide to matriculate with us. If you have questions about the school, feel free to ask!

I didn't get accepted this round but congrats to those who did!

Do we know how many people were offered acceptances?

1/3 of available seats.

Don't worry people get in as late as June and July.

Originally Posted by Swissmiss89

I didn't get accepted this round but congrats to those who did!

Do we know how many people were offered acceptances?

Theoretically, 24 slots (+/- 1 or 2). 1/3 of the normal 72 slots.

I didn't receive anything in the mail from SIU. I interviewed toward the end of October. Does this mean I've not been rejected yet? lol

Originally Posted by Shogun00

I didn't receive anything in the mail from SIU. I interviewed toward the end of October. Does this mean I've not been rejected yet? lol

I don't know the exact date but if you were interviewed in late October you probably didn't have enough time before the admissions committee meeting for them to prepare your material. So I would expect that you will come up at the next meeting.

Good luck

I have an AWPA and am pretty sure I will be withdrawing. I just do not think I can embrace the whole 100% PBL thing. I wish I could though. I enjoyed the environment and the people at SIU. It is also crazy inexpensive compared to most schools.

In any case, it makes someone else with an AWPA get an acceptance a little faster.

Are the first two years strictly pass/fail?

Originally Posted by immunology89

Are the first two years strictly pass/fail?

The simple answer is yes.

The full answer is that grades are setup as S, C, U.
Satisfactory
Concern
Unsatisfactory

For each unit (3 during first year) your performance is compared to the class average/standard deviation.
If you are -1 St. Dev. or above you receive an S.
If you score between -2 and -1 SD then you receive an C.
Lower than -2 SD then a U.

Originally Posted by cathepsin

The simple answer is yes.

The full answer is that grades are setup as S, C, U.
Satisfactory
Concern
Unsatisfactory

For each unit (3 during first year) your performance is compared to the class average/standard deviation.
If you are -1 St. Dev. or above you receive an S.
If you score between -2 and -1 SD then you receive an C.
Lower than -2 SD then a U.

no matter how the class performs, if you score 75% you get an S.

Originally Posted by edge of desire

I'm trying to decide whether to apply to this school. I've heard that there's no chance for people from the suburbs around Chicago. however, i know that their mission statement is to train dr's who give back to rural communities. what if you grew up in a rural community but now live in an affluent one? how can you make that known to SIU in the primary? and how do they evaluate whether you'll go into rural medicine or not (i mean, at this point in my life i don't want to make such a big decision and i can really see myself going either way). thanks and gl to everyone!

I got my AWPA from SIU in October, and on my interview day, they told me that a full 1/3 of the class is from northern Illinois/the Chicago area. It's also in a booklet I received with school stats. Apply!

Originally Posted by cathepsin

Theoretically, 24 slots (+/- 1 or 2). 1/3 of the normal 72 slots.

Actually I heard in passing today that they released 30 slots. Again I'm not on the AdComm so I can't "officially" confirm that.

Thanks for the information! Do you know how many weeks of protected time students have to prepare for step 1?

Originally Posted by immunology89

Thanks for the information! Do you know how many weeks of protected time students have to prepare for step 1?

Here is a good resource for looking at the general schedule: http://www.siumed.edu/oec/html/calendar.htm
Go down to the Year One(Two, etc) Calendars to see how it is currently structured. Your question is in Year 2.
To know exactly how everything is structured would require a 3rd or 4th year to answer that. (I'm a first year.) Caesar might be able to give you a general idea but I'm fairly sure he is a second year so he hasn't gone through the process yet either.

It generally ends up being in the neighborhood of 6 weeks between the end of year 2 and the beginning of year 3. This time is to be used for step 1 and any vacation you may want. It may seem like not that much time at your stage, but in reality that is more than adequate.

It is 6 weeks they give us that is dedicated, but the end of 2nd year they go easy because they know everyone is in Study mode for step 1.

Starting to get kind of nervous.

I interviewed on August 28th and got my AWPA less than a month later. I was kind of hoping to be in the first round of acceptances. The second batch doesn't go out until February, right?

Originally Posted by Catgofire

Starting to get kind of nervous.

I interviewed on August 28th and got my AWPA less than a month later. I was kind of hoping to be in the first round of acceptances. The second batch doesn't go out until February, right?

Don't get too nervous at this point. You are correct that the next batch goes out in Feb. I won't worry about it if you are a strong candidate.

Just got invited to interview for MD/JD program. Excited!

Whats the best way to travel there for OOS? are there student hosts?

I never recieved a secondary for this school, rather they sent me a letter about 2 months ago saying that I was on some "screener's waiting-list and applicants on this list rarely make it." I haven't heard from them since then. I was wondering if there is any hope for these applicants. Anyone in a similar situation?